European Dragon
The European Dragon, scientifically known as Draco occidentalis magnus, is the "classical dragon." It has colonized the world through flight, but almost always sticks to seasonal, wooded land and mountains. The European Dragon has two large, useable wings, and four powerful legs. It is also known as the Mountain Dragon, or even rarely the Classic Dragon. Appearence Being the classical dragon, it is large in size, as the majority of dragons are. This dragon is usually around 40-45 feet long, although several very large European Dragons have measured an enormus 55 feet long. The dragon is also usually 13-17 feet tall, but once again, the large ones can be 20 feet tall. The European Dragon to a compact dragon of sorts, with a strong torso and largely visable spines on its back, as well as the tail and legs. The back spine tend to be the largest of them all, and the thickest. This dragon's tail is tipped with an "arrowhead," easily capeable of decapitating a grown man. Head The European Dragon's head is not bare like that of a tipical lizard. Although variations occur, the European dragon can have spikes, horns and frills on top of its head. Occasionally, more old dragons grow largwer nose horns and even somethimes horned frills around the cheeks. Coloration and skin coverings This dragon has all sorts of color variaties, changing with age and with location. *Red *Green *Black *Gold *Orange *Light gray or even white (in the case of some very old speciemens). Body Parts The classic dragon has four legs, and is able to walk and stand bipedal. It has two, complete, bat-like wings. Diet The European Dragon will eat large herbivores, including but not limited to deer, cattle, sheep, and other farmed and hoofstock. It will only go after farm animals if seperated from the farm or herd, unless the dragon is starving. Humans are a food of last resort. The reason for this is simple: bad taste. Scat As all animals, the European Dragon leaves behind waste, which can be useful in track a dragon. A European Dragon's scat is large, and of course smelly. The scat contains bones of the victims. Sometimes visable are highly noxious fumes from fresh droppings. Surroundings The European Dragon has never been as feared as the eastern dragons. Some humans thought that this dragon was actually the devil! Thus, it has never had temples or burnt offerings to enjoy. Habitat It lives in mountains, simply put. It prefers its home land of Europe, but it will also take other regions similar in climate in terrain. The European Dragon also enjoys peat bogs, such as Ireland, and remote, northern islands far away from civilization. Conifer forests are another favorite of this dragon. Lair For the European Dragon's lair, this creature will accept a mountain or a cave overlooking the sea. The dragon prefers for the lair to have only one entrance, and no matter what the lair, it wants it as far away from humans and civilization as possible. Forms of Attack and Defense The classical dragon is able to use the toxins in its mouth to create flames, and this is a good method of attack from a fairly short distance. Its claws also make formidable weapons in battle. The tail tip is a great weapon to use when it is attacked from behind, although that is used less often as the other techniques. The males use their nose horns to hurtle poor victims. Vocal Activity This dragon rarely speaks unless it encounters a human, and calls are rarely heard. It does make noise for mating. Calls The calls a Mountain Dragon uses go from a low, small growl to an epic, terrifying roar. As far as mating calls go, it will produce high-pitched whistles. Speech and Language Many of these dragons can read, write, and speak the English language, as well as Dragonish, their own language. A few elder speciemens stuburnly insist on speaking Latin, which is not spoken by humans any more, of course. Because it can live in areas that are quite different, the number of multilingual dragons is growing, and more common languages among them include English, French, Russian, and German. Reproduction Once a new dragon is concieved, the female dragon will lay an egg after a while. The egg is a brown or purple egg, with blue-green spots. The tipical incubation period for a European Dragon is 36 months. The egg is put in a nest inside of a cave, with the nest being made of smal rocks. Chick The young European Dragon, or chick, is cared for only by the mother. The chicks have a strong hoarding instinct upon birth, and the mother dragon will line the nest with bright objects. The chick itself is very bright in color, usually red or green, sometimes spotted yellow. As with the adults, its belly has a paler, smoother appearence. As the chick sheds its skin the shade darkens. Conservation -''Soon to be updated''- Closely Related Species *Gargouille, Draco occidentalis minimus. *Frost Dragon, Draco occidentalis maritimus. Sources #Drake, Ernest. Dragonology Field Guide to Dragons. China. The Templar Company Plc., 2007, pgs. 5, 15.